50 Shades of Grey...This is What the Hype was About?

Im not one to hop on trends or be into "the latest" whatever, so I never felt the urge to get a copy of  I  the New York Times Best Seller book 50 Shades of Grey. Curiosity has finally gotten the best of me last week, and I read  it and I  just had to write about it. This is for you all who have read it or those curious, as I was. This book has been out for a while and is a trilogy, so yes, Im extremely late.

Before I start the review, I wont leave you guessing on my unpopular opinion, I did not love the book, I barely liked it actually, and here is why:

50 Shades of Grey Review

50 Shades is essentially a book about a virginal character Ana who meets and falls instantly for an extremely rich, extremely handsome Christian Grey. He is intimidating and controlling...and into the alternative lifestyle of BDSM (Bondage& Discipline,Sadism & Masochism ) . The very innocent Ana goes on to lose her virginity to him and participate into the lifestyle rather quickly but falls in love. Christian Grey does not do love, but somehow he finds himself letting her slide in situations that he's never let anyone else slide in. He himself catches feeling for her, although he's warned her from day one that he is not the type of man she should be with. Of course she doesnt listen to that warning and tries to change him into a loving man, although he's self admittedly "50 shades of fucked up". She changes for sure, him not so much. She realizes that he just may not have the capacity to love and that is heartbreaking. The end.

 

There, you dont have to read it. lol.j/k

 

Although I did not care for this book at all, I think it had potential to be something great. The problem to me was that the writing was annoying, the scenarios were repetitive,the situations were incredibly unbelievable  and Im not sure if there was or wasnt a clear plot.

 

For instance, what 21 year old college graduate who wants to pursue publishing, doesnt own a laptop or even an email address in 2011? She is naive beyond measure and I just cant get with it. Okay, a virgin character may be inexperienced, but Ana was damn near the Virgin Mary in the beginning. Also, her awkardness and inner voices were annoying, "my inner goddess" this and my "subconscious" that. Really? When I was reading, I couldnt picture any grown adult with these thoughts, the main character Ana read like a teenager...and not a very bright one. That disturbed me.

 

I digress, this book was extremely annoying in the sense that every page was guaranteed to incoporate the following: the words "holy crap", "holy cow", "holy shit"...really ? , inner goddess doing back flips, subconscious hiding behind a couch or calling her a hoe, Ana biting her lip, someone rolling their eyes, how gray Grey's eyes are and how extremely handsome he is. I think the author could have been more creative, Im not kidding when I say each page has at least one of those things on it. I dont know about anybody else, but reading "holy cow" on every page got soooo annoying.

 

The sex scenes to me were the most unrealistic. Not to be cynical here, but she orgasms EVERYTIME like within a minute, and even on command. Even her first time. Maybe Im jealous, but what the hell? She "shatters to pieces" (orgasms) just by a slight touch by him. And also, I cant see an innocent virgin go from zero to total BDSM goddess in such a short time period either,but I dont know. The scenes were basically all the same, and to use a term from the book, VERY vanilla. There was no variety, and her awkwardness and inner thoughts clouded what may have been juicy scenes. Christian, in all his filthy richness and handsomeness was border line abusive, definintely a stalker and overly controlling man. I hope women out there realize that that is NOT a catch.

 

Lastly, Im not sure what the plot was in this book. I would try to brainstorm but I still cant figure it out.

 

THE GOOD:

While I didnt love the book, I didnt hate it. I enjoyed the Christian character (since he was kind of the only one with substance) and would've liked to know more about his past.

 

I also like that this book has people reading it, even if that means reading a sub par, less than erotica fantasy book. AND not only are people reading it, they are spicing up their love lives...and I aint mad at that...

 

Mainly I like that as a writer, it gives me hope. If this book can be a bestseller than I know I have one in me.

 

Overall, some may think this is a little critical, and it may be. I write, so I may pay attention to things that others dont. I think this book wasnt smart enough, and I think it had potential to be but something went wrong. Hopefully the script writers for the film do a better  job at developing the characters and plots.

 

 

Have you read it? What did you think? Ready for the film?